Mother and Baby Home survivors hurt by Taoiseach's comments, says Catherine Corless

Historian Catherine Corless. File picture: Laura Hutton/RollingNews.ie

Historian and campaigner Catherine Corless has said that Mother and Baby Home survivors were very hurt by Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s comments on Tuesday.

The Commission of Investigation report was published yesterday and found that thousands of children died in Ireland's Mother and Baby Homes with no concern from the State or society.

Ms Corless told Newstalk Breakfast that a broader apology was needed, highlighting the role of the Church and State rather than putting so much weight on the role of society in general.

“He specifically pointed out society in general, and the parents and grandparents of these survivors," she said

"They were very, very hurt over that. They all have their own stories. They gave their own stories, like how it was impossible for their mothers to stay in the village because of the Church and the attitudes they created at the time."

Ms Corless said she would have preferred if the Taoiseach had said all were at fault and that there was a need for an apology “from all around.” 

From her research she was aware of many of the details so they had not come as a surprise, she said. But she was disappointed that the report was “a little bit vague” about the issue of illegal adoption.

“There’s a lot of people disappointed it wasn’t gone into in a little more detail in the report.

“I’ve said it over and over again, they need an acknowledgement from the people that hurt them and put them in this situation. That’s first and foremost, and that hasn’t come out as yet.”

The report found that around 56,000 unmarried mothers, some as young as 12, passed through, and 57,000 children were born, in the mother and baby homes under investigation by the Commission - with the highest admissions in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Later today, the Taoiseach will apologise to survivors of homes for unmarried mothers and their children in the Dáil.

On Tuesday he said the scandal over many decades was a dark chapter in the country’s history.

He added that Ireland had displayed a “warped” attitude to sexuality and intimacy in the past.